Current LLM Students

PROFILES OF LL.M. STUDENTS IN 2014-2015

FT and PT indicate full-time and part-time students, respectively.

Ms. Tina M. Adams-Salter (PT) is the system privacy officer for the University of Missouri Health System, School of Medicine, School of Nursing, University Physicians and the Tiger Institute Health Alliance Health Information Exchange. She has more than 30 years’ experience in health care. Previously she was the director of risk management for Temple University Health Systems, physicians practices and the system wide risk management educator in Philadelphia, Pa. Additionally Tina was the chief privacy and data security officer for Meridian Health System, Neptune, NJ. She earned her JD from Rutgers School Law Camden, a BS in nursing, from Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, Pa, and a nursing diploma from St. Francis School of Nursing, in Trenton, NJ. During her judicial clerkship with the New Jersey Superior Court, Mercer Vicinage, Tina mediated family court matters. She is certified in healthcare privacy compliance. She enjoys travel especially to Venice and Paris, reading, movies, hiking and cooking. Tina and her husband, Edward Anthony, recently relocated from the East Coast.

Mr. Othman Ahmed (FT) is was born in Iraq in the Kurdistan Regions and is now a permanent resident of the United States. He graduated from the University of Salahaddin and joined the Iraqi Bar Association in 1998. He has 15 years’ experience as a legal advisor and attorney at law in the field of Iraqi business law including company law, and telecom law, as well as litigation, arbitration and tendering. He has given legal advice and expert legal opinion to a number of Iraqi and international law firms and companies on legal questions concerning Iraqi law, including claims arising from contractual liability and unlawful acts. Most recently he served as a legal counsel at Huawei –Iraq Telecommunication Company for four years. His goal for the LLM program is to improve his ADR techniques and become an accredited mediator to make positive contributions to growth and development in the northern Iraq/Kurdistan Region.

Ms. Mary Albert (FT) is from Brighton, Illinois and received her JD from the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. She is a practicing attorney in Illinois and Missouri as a sole practitioner, with a general practice concentrating in domestic relations, estate litigation and planning and serves as a mediator and arbitrator in Illinois. Mary is most interested in alternative dispute resolution in the business and intellectual property fields to add to her past experiences in family and civil ADR areas. She enjoys serving both as an arbitrator and a mediator and desires to expand her knowledge and skills to advance to a position concentrating on only alternative dispute resolution.

Ms.Eimear Arkins (FT) hails from Ruan, a small village in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland. She graduated from University College Cork (UCC) in 2013 with a bachelor of laws. During her undergraduate degree she spent a year studying at St Louis University School of Law. She loved her time in Missouri so much that she decided to pursue her master’s here. During her time at UCC, Eimear served as a student ambassador and also as a peer support leader, helping freshmen adapt to college life. In her final year she was nominated by the Dean of Law for a position on the first U.S. Embassy Youth Council, a position she held for two terms. Eimear is an accomplished musician and singer. She has toured extensively throughout Ireland, Britain, Europe and North America. In 2010 she was part of the troupe that represented Ireland at World Expo in Shanghai. Eimear has also performed and given workshops at various festivals around the world including Catskills Irish Arts Week in New York, Viljandi Päärimusmuusika Festival in Estonia and Festival Interceltique Lorient. Eimear is combining the LLM with a master’s degree in strategic communications at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Ms. Lilja Bjarnadóttir (FT) is from Kopavogur, Iceland but was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1986. She graduated with a master’s degree in law from Reykjavik University in 2011. She first became interested in arbitration when she participated in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna in 2009-2010. Despite her young age her job experience is diverse. She started working for the family engineering company on school holidays at the age of 14. The summer after graduating with her bachelor’s degree in law from Reykjavik University in 2009, she worked for an insurance company where she handled claims and tort cases. In the summer 2010, she worked as a legal intern for one of the largest law firms in Iceland and started working there full-time as an associate after graduating, working mainly with competition law. Lilja became a district court attorney in 2012 and worked as a consultant for a winding up committee of an Icelandic investment bank in 2012-2013. She currently works as a quality manager and has successfully implemented the ISO 9001:2008 standard within the company. In her experience, the most rewarding aspect of any job is working with people and creative problem solving and Lilja’s goal is to become one of the top negotiators in Iceland.

Ms. Lynn Carruth-Rasmussen (FT) is a retiree of the University of Missouri (MU) previously serving as the director of Academic Advising and Certification Services for the College of Education as well as its certification officer. She earned her BA from MU in psychology with honors, as well as her MA in counseling psychology. She has taught undergraduate-level psychology and career-based courses at both MU and Moberly Area Community College. Prior to MU she spent 16 years with Bridge Information Systems, a stock market research firm out of St. Louis, Missouri. Her initial mediation training came through participation in the Chancellor’s Emerging Leaders Program at MU, followed by completion of the Mediation Training for Civil Cases program, and subsequently she joined the Campus Mediation Service. Her interest in mediation and ADR is focused on the impact of interpersonal communication on group dynamics. Lynn is married and enjoys celebrating life through many pursuits including traveling, quilting, bicycling, gardening, cooking, learning and spending time with family and friends.

Mr. Junzhe Chi (FT) was born in Longjing, China. As an ethnic-Korean in China, both Korean and Chinese are his native languages. He learned Japanese during school time as his third language, and English is the fourth. He received his bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from Dalian Nationalities University and obtained his juris master degree from Peking University School of Law. He served as a legal counsel at the China Headquarters of Samsung for four years. Now he is an attorney with the Genland Law Firm in China. He would like to gain further insights into the American legal system and improve his skills in various dispute resolution processes.

Ms. Princess Dugbo (FT) was born in Benin City, Nigeria, and graduated from the University of Benin in 2009 with an LLB. She also attended the Nigeria Law School, earning her BL in 2011. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2011. While at the Nigerian Law School she participated in role plays as counsel and received an award from the drama unit in All Saints Anglican Church. She completed her National Youth Service in 2011 in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, where she practiced and served as a legal assistant with a law firm and then worked as a litigation secretary at the Kingsley Asagba law firm. In 2013 she joined Mohinani Group as a legal and debt recovery officer in Lagos where she worked with government agencies like the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Lagos State Environmental Agency, Ministry of Health and many others. Princess is a go- getter, hardworking, diligent, and above all humble and very associated with godly works as exemplified by her contribution to the church social welfare. After she completes her LLM studies she intends to become a chartered arbitrator and settle disputes for multinational companies and non-governmental agencies both internationally and locally.

Dr. John (Jack) Healy (PT) is the dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Tex. He earned his BA in English from Creighton University (Omaha, Neb.) in 1985, his MA in English (1988) and his PhD in English (1997) from the University of Kansas. He wrote his dissertation on the early poetry of Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, a native of Northern Ireland. Jack has published articles and presented papers in the U.S. and Ireland on Heaney's poetry and Irish novelist Colum McCann. He has a particular research interest in the impact of sectarian and social violence throughout the 20th century in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Jack has taught English at the University of Kansas, Baker University, and Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri. At CMU he also served as associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for three years before joining the University of the Incarnate Word. He was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar at the University of Notre Dame in 2003, focusing on images of Ireland and the Irish from the Irish and British perspectives throughout Irish history and literature. In Spring 2006, he taught in the Missouri London Program at Imperial College, London, where he taught Travel Literature and Post-colonial British Literature. Jack hopes to use his knowledge and experience in the LLM Program to develop helpful skills in higher education administration. Jack and his wife, Kathy, live in San Antonio with their sassy tabby cat, Kerry.

Ms.Ngutjiua Hijarunguru (FT) was born and raised in Windhoek Namibia. She is the second of seven children and family is everything to her. Njutjiua completed her LLB at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) this year and is currently pursuing her master’s in labor law at UWC. She worked as a graduate lecturing assistant from January to July 2014, where she prepared and conducted tutorials for senior students. She has a passion for mooting and has engaged in various competitions such as the All African Human Rights Moot Court Competition and The Jessup. She loves to sing, cook, travel and explore nature. She loves children and has a passion for missions.

Mr.Sung-wan Kim (FT) was born in Kwang-ju, South Korea. He obtained a bachelor's degree in law from Chung-Ang University in South Korea. He passed the Civil Service Examination for Service at the National Assembly, and was recruited as a legislative expert. Since joining the National Assembly in 2001, he has been working as a professional parliamentary assistant for various political areas, such as legislation, judiciary, knowledge and the economy. He intends to gain further insights into the American legal system and improve his skills in various dispute resolution processes.

Ms. Rea Kryeziu (FT) is from Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo. She received a BA with honors from the American University in Kosovo (AUK), in partnership with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), holding a double major in public policy and management, and a minor in legal studies. She is an awardee of the USAID Transformational Leadership Scholarship and will thus join Missouri’s LLM program as a sponsored student. Her interest in dispute resolution was founded and nurtured through her participation at and coaching of the Kosovo team 2013 and 2014 for the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Austria, and her participation at the Institute in International Commercial Law and Dispute Resolution (2013), organized by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in Croatia. She has worked at the Kosovo Permanent Tribunal of Arbitration (PTA) and prior to it at the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG). Upon completion she is oriented towards working for the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kosovo, focusing mostly on law and government. She loves animals, nature, volleyball, volunteering, traveling and, of course, the gym.

Mr. Benjamin J. Miller (PT) is the technology/automation resource prosecutor with the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services (MOPS). He received his BA in history from Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2002. He received his JD in 2007 from Regent University. In his role at MOPS, Ben provides training and technical assistance for prosecutors and support staff all over Missouri in the areas of digital case management, technology in the courtroom, and criminal justice system integrations. He also works closely with the Office of State Courts Administration and the Missouri Highway Patrol to make sure that the criminal justice system as a whole is moving forward together for the benefit of all interested parties. Prior to joining MOPS in 2012, Ben served as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Christian County, Missouri, from 2007-2012 where he primarily focused on prosecuting impaired driving cases. His interests in alternative dispute resolution is twofold. First, he would like to explore what the criminal justice system can learn from modern methods of dispute resolution. Second, Ben would like to pursue a career in academia working with college and law students to see the benefits of public service.

Mr. Kyuchan Park (FT) is from the Republic of Korea (South Korea), where he graduated from the Korea University Law College with an LLB degree and also graduated from the Korea University graduate school with a master of law degree. He passed the 17th Higher Civil Service Examination for Service in the National Assembly, and was recruited as a legislative expert. Since joining the National Assembly, he has been working there as a professional parliamentary assistant for various political areas such as education, legislation, judiciary, environment, etc.

Mr. Jose Dario Rodriguez (FT) is from Panama City, Panama. He received his law degree from the University of Panama in 2011. Jose currently works as a lawyer and assistant to the director of the Civil Registry of Panama. This public institution is responsible for control and registration of births, marriages, and deaths of Panamanians inside and outside the country. Before his recent job, he also worked in the private sector in two prestigious firms -- Alfaro, Ferrer & Ramirez attorneys, where he covered topics like trademarks and patents, and then Vallarino, Vallarino & Garcia Maritano attorneys, where he worked in immigration and administrative processes. Jose is a current member of the Panama Lawyers School. In the future he plans to use his LLM degree to provide legal advice and alternative solutions for entrepreneurial conflicts.